Security systems are used to secure, protect and safeguard property, spaces and people from unwanted intrusions, theft, vandalism and other mischief. Effective security systems include guards, trained dogs, electronic intrusion detection, video surveillance, photo surveillance, formidable barriers and counter-offensive devices.
Video surveillance systems in particular are effective and are in widespread use. In general they record information at all times and in doing so, capture physical description information about intruders that may be useful in identifying, apprehending and convicting them. Video surveillance systems can also transmit this information to others via wire-based and wireless technology, and across the Internet.
However, video surveillance systems require owner-operators to review the media in order to locate the relevant sequences that provides physical description information about intruders. This review process requires diligent time commitment on the part of the owner-operator, and results in some delay in obtaining physical description information.
Photo surveillance in either analog or digital format is seldom effectively used to photograph intruders due to the inefficiencies associated with retrieving, processing and dissemination of photographs to interested parties, where automated photography systems are employed.
The dissemination of an intruder's physical description information to apprehending authorities or other involved groups must ideally follow in an urgent and timely manner in order to increase the opportunity of an intruder's apprehension. However limitations such as compatibility of equipment, available bandwidth, and portability among apprehending authorities or other involved groups hinders the effectiveness of wireless and Internet technology for video surveillance systems.
Furthermore, the direct communication of an intruder's physical description information to apprehending authorities or other involved groups is open to mischievous manipulation and mal intent whereby an innocent person's physical description may be edited into un-securely transmitted media.
Increasingly, the need to secure, protect and safeguard property, spaces and people from unwanted intrusions, theft, vandalism and other mischief, in a mobile capacity is desirable. Video surveillance and photo detection systems do not conveniently lend themselves to desired portability.
It is therefore desirable and an improvement in the art for a portable security system incorporating devices to instantly detect an intruder, to digitally photograph an intruder, to compress the digital photo(s) to a relatively small file size, to transmit these compressed digital photos via a wireless network to a central control center across a secure mode, and to securely store the original digital photo(s) prior to immediately forwarding copies to apprehending authorities or other involved groups.